Session 2D — Lectures by Fellows/Associates

Renee M. Borges, IISc, Bengaluru

Drug repositioning/repurposing: Promising strategy to develop therapy against viral infections View Presentation

Development of a new drug being a high-risk, time consuming and very laborious process, repositioning/repurposing of drugs has been the focus of many groups working in the field of drug discovery. Drug repositioning (DR) aims to find new uses of existing safe drugs in different disease settings. Not only in the developed nations has this approach revolutionized drug discovery, many developing countries are also currently focusing on the same strategy thus seeking for an alternative to high costs and failure rates associated with the drug discovery pipeline. Absence of safe, efficient as well as cost effective vaccine and anti-viral drug prompts us to explore the potential of known drug as a therapeutic strategy for Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) infection. By exploring the pathways which are involved in inflammation, we have identified Minocycline, which is an approved drug with a long standing record of acceptable safety and has a similar spectrum to Doxycycline, as a potential therapeutic candidate against JEV infection. Based upon pre-clinical study undertaken in our laboratory at National Brain Research Centre, a Phase II clinical trial has been completed at King George Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, where minocycline has been used as a therapy for JE patients and the patients with Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). Results of the trial indicates a potential benefit that Minocycline confers upon patients, especially in those who survive the initial days in hospital. These findings could form the basis for planning a larger study and possibly including minocycline in the management of AES and JE. More recently, we have shown the therapeutic potential of AMG487, an antagonist of CXCR3, in Dengue virus (DV) as well as in JEV infection.